According to the New York State Department of Health, Long Island has seen its uninsured rate drop by three percent since 2013 and more than 300,000 New Yorkers have received their health insurance through the state exchange.
Bill Hammond, health policy director for the Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank based in Albany, says, “Obamacare had certain gaps that people slipped through, I think this system would have bigger gaps.”
The Congressional Budget Office says the bill cuts $772 billion from Medicaid.
Joseph Stelling, associate state director for AARP in New York, says, “New York is one of the biggest Medicaid programs in the country, which means New York is going to really take it on the chin with that kind of national cut.”
The CBO says the Senate bill could increase the number of people without health insurance nationally to 22 million by 2026 and could triple health care premiums for the elderly by 2026.